Matthew remained in critical condition during his entire stay at Poudre Valley Hospital. During his stay, efforts to improve his condition proved to no avail.

Matthew died while on full life support measures.

Funeral arrangements are pending, and we will announce those arrangements on our website as soon as they are available at www.pvhs.org, under the PVHS NEWS toolbar. Please do not call the hospital for this information; we will post the information on this web site as soon as we find out.

The family did release the following statement, “We would like to thank the hospital for their kindness, professionalism, sympathy, and respect for the needs of our family under this stressful time. We will always be grateful for their concern for Matthew.”

The family again asked me to express their sincere gratitude to the entire world for the overwhelming response for their son. During the last 24 hours we have received nearly 2000 e-mails from every continent, and, our Website has received thousands of hits on Saturday and Sunday. We will continue to forward to the family any e-mail we receive…

The family was grateful they did not have to make a decision regarding whether or not to continue life support for their son. Like a good son, he was caring to the end and removed guilt or stress from the family.

He came into the world premature and left the world premature.

Matthew’s mother said, “Go home, give your kids a hug and don’t let a day go by without telling them you love them.”

Matthew’s family is so grateful that his last words to them were, “I love you.” This was said when the family went to Saudi Arabia where they work for an oil company.

I remember where I was the night he was kidnapped and beaten. I remember clearly the end of the week and weekend up to his death, that I waited and listened, as it seemed the nation did, on his struggle to live.

My sorrow was deep and intense. I had to DO something. I reached out. I reached out to anyone I could. His parents, his friends…I learned that, after all, I was only one degree, one person away from knowing Matt Shepard myself. We passed each other, unknowingly through his best friend, Nikki Pearson.

There have been other friends of Matt’s who have remained close and strong in my life. His mother has too.
His mother, and that of Emmett Till, inspired a play that I wrote to bridge the contention between blacks and gays on whose civil rights are legitimate.

I traveled to Casper, WY and witnessed the commitment ceremony of Matt’s friends, Jason Marsden and Guy Padgett. They toured me through where Guy and Matt attended grade school, I got a full picture of his life there.
The winds and the stars…remind me always of what is timeless, always present and beautiful there.

I have grieved over the violent losses of young gays and lesbians and the transgendered since his killing. There seems no end, no compassionate, rational and thoughtful way to reach those who still don’t value the lives of gay people and the transgendered.

Some days I grow a little weary, sad…but then…
I’ll see or hear from a young person, gay and not, who has that spark of understanding and compassion and outright love. It’s a cousin, a sibling…a teacher, parent, someone gay in their lives that taught them and showed them the extraordinary strenght and love it takes to love back.
In spite of everything, in spite of daunting odds.

Judy Shepard broke my heart when she told me that Matt would have loved me. I was his kind of person and that we’d easily would have had a meeting of the minds and heart. Nikki and Guy told me the same thing.
So, for the love of every man and woman like him. In his name and memory, I’ll go on until the work is done and young people like himself, or who would care for and like him, are safe and free.
Love to one and all, your friend in the trenches,
Regan Talley DuCasse

In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.

When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.

In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.

From the Inside: Focus on the Family’s “Love Won Out”

On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.

Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!

Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.

Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.

Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.

The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.